


Komorebi

by agentpanda2020



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - No Uchiha Massacre, BAMF Haruno Sakura, Coming of Age, Eventual Romance, F/M, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Tagging, No Uchiha Massacre, Rating will go up eventually, Romance, Slow Burn, eventually, non massacre
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:00:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24813481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agentpanda2020/pseuds/agentpanda2020
Summary: 木漏れ日, Komorebi [koh-moh-reh-bi] n. : the warm sunshine that streams through the trees. From kanji: 木 (tree) 漏 (escapes) れ日 (sun, light) - the sunlight that escapes through the trees.When they first met, it was in the warm glow of sunshine streaming through the trees of a small clearing near the Uchiha compound. One chance meeting binds their destinies together for life. A slow burn itasaku (Itachi/Sakura) story that starts from childhood in a non-massacre AU.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Itachi
Comments: 18
Kudos: 124





	1. Chapter 1: The Clearing

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a self-indulgent fic that I've been aching to write for a while but quarantine procrastination has been ridiculous so I've only just posted it now.

**Title:** Komorebi

**Written by:** agentpanda2020

**Summary:** When they first met, it was in the warm glow of sunshine streaming through the trees of a small clearing near the Uchiha compound. One chance meeting binds their destinies together for life. A slow burn itasaku (Itachi/Sakura) story that starts from childhood in a non-massacre AU.

**Prompt:** komorebi

**Chapter 1: The Clearing**

_木漏れ日_ _,_ _Komorebi [koh-moh-reh-bi] n. : the warm sunshine that streams through the trees. From kanji:_ _木_ _(tree)_ _漏_ _(escapes)_ _れ日_ _(sun, light) - the sunlight that escapes through the trees_

When they first meet, it is in the warm glow of sunlight streaming through the trees of a small clearing near the Uchiha clan's training grounds.

Sakura ran, stumbling over her clumsy feet as her peers chased and mocked her, fat tears rolling down her cherub cheeks.

"Forehead! Where are ya running?" said one.

"You're just a _civilian_ you can't outrun us," mocked another.

"We just wanna see whatcha reading! I bet it's something bo-ring," said the last one.

The three bullies had tormented Sakura for the better half of an hour, at first mocking her for her large forehead, for her pink hair, and for reading at a playground. The mocking escalated to threats to "tear up her stupid book" and the tugging of the child's "ugly hair," until the girl had had enough and walked away. However, Sakura's decision to walk away was quickly punished, as her bullies weren't done tormenting her yet, and chased the poor girl into the forest.

The six-year-old girl clung tighter to her precious book, crying out in pain when a rock one of the bullies had thrown struck her in the leg. The pain distracted and disoriented her, causing her to trip and stumble over an overgrown root. She clamped her eyes shut, preparing herself to fall face-first into the grass, favoring her precious book over her own health.

But the pain never came.

Instead, she felt her arms being gently held by warm hands as she was slowly tipped back to standing. When she opened her eyes, she saw the back of a black shirt emblazoned with an uchiwa fan worn by a tall boy.

Itachi hadn't meant to stumble upon the kerfuffle on his way back from leaving his mission report at Hokage Tower, however, it had become a habit of his to meditate or train in the small clearing by the Uchiha clan's training grounds. The place had become a sort of sanctuary to the young chunin, a place to decompress by himself without the pressing eyes of the clan elders or his own parents.

However, on his way to his oasis his sharp ears had picked up the taunts and jeers that the three boys were throwing at a young girl, who looked to be about his own otōto's age. And so, he silently caught the young girl when she had tripped and found himself turning to face the three boys.

Itachi had placed himself in between her and the antagonizers, and was staring at them impassively. While Sakura didn't recognize him (as she was just a civilian), her shinobi borne bullies immediately identified him, having heard stories of the prodigious Uchiha heir who had graduated from the academy at the ripe age of 6 and passed and became a chunin as a one-man team. As such, Sakura's tormenters quickly found themselves cowering under Itachi's intensely blank stare.

"It's not good to bully others."

"I-I'm so sorry Uchiha-san!"

"M-Me too! Gomenasai, Uchiha-san!"

"I-It won't happen again! We promise! We'll leave right now!"

Itachi continued to stare impassively at the children, making eye contact with each for a minimum of 30 seconds, causing each of them to squirm uncomfortably. Eventually, he gave a single nod, with a simple "Go."

As soon as the children scrambled away, Itachi turned to the now placated Sakura and kneeled down to smile gently and ask if she was okay. He wasn't quite sure why, but he felt drawn to the little girl with pink locks and wide green eyes, perhaps it was because her innocent eyes reminded him of his own beloved otōto. The little girl was still hiccuping from her prior tears, but seemed uninjured as she rapidly nodded her head, her wide eyes shining as they stared at the older boy in awe.

"How did you make them go away without even doing anything?" Sakura blurted out before she could even thank him, which she scrambled to do after her outburst. The rosette was quick to introduce herself as well and ask for the boy's name, mindful of the manners her mother had taught her.

Itachi found himself somewhat surprised, as most in the village were already aware of his existence as a result of his extraordinary genius and talent in the shinobi world. Thinking carefully, he softly replied with a simple, "Uchiha Itachi, there is no need to thank me, the strong must protect the weak… they listened to me because I'm a chunin," while pointing to his forehead protector. The girl found herself amazed, staring at his forehead protector with a mixture of awe, respect, and longing in her eyes.

"Will people stop making fun of me if I'm a shinobi too? Maybe I'll go to the 'cademy" Sakura murmured softly to herself.

Itachi said nothing, instead telling the girl to return to the clearing they were in tomorrow, as he would leave her something.

And so, Itachi silently escorted the young rosette back to the playground, where her mother was worriedly waiting for her. The clan heir politely introduced himself to Mebuki Haruno, who he quietly observed did _not_ share the same striking pink hair as Sakura, but instead was a blond, mild-mannered woman with sharp green eyes. The flustered civilian looked between her child and the Uchiha prodigy slowly, curiously, before smiling warmly and thanking Itachi for looking after her daughter. Itachi simply nodded before swiftly turning around as Sakura waved him goodbye.

On the walk home, Sakura excitedly told her mother all of the things that had transpired in the past few hours-how she had been peacefully reading her history tome when the three slightly older boys had begun mercilessly bullying her and chased her into the forest, where 'tachi had caught her and scared the boys without even doing anything. As the girl continued to ramble about how strong 'tachi-nii was and how she wanted to be just as strong as he was, Mebuki felt the tendrils of nervousness swirl in her stomach, the apprehension and anxiety of her innocent, young, daughter becoming a shinobi and joining the very forces that had resulted in the girl's father, Kizashi, passing away. Silently, the blond-haired woman hoped that this was just a passing phase, that her daughter would not follow in the footsteps of Kizashi, and that she would go on to live the easy life of a civilian. She was broken from her sinister thoughts when her daughter looked up at her with pleading eyes, "Okaasan, can I join the academy next year? I wanna be strong like 'tachi-kun, so nobody bullies me anymore."

Mebuki reasoned with herself, it would be better for her daughter to learn some basic self-defense at the academy, and not all who enrolled in the academy ended up becoming shinobi… and even if Sakura did choose to become a kunoichi, it wasn't as though she would stop her only daughter from fulfilling her dreams, so she gave in to her daughter's request, promising Sakura that she would enroll her in the academy the following year.

The next day, Sakura found herself rushing back to the clearing, stumbling over her own two feet all the same, but from elated excitement instead of fear. Upon her arrival, she squealed in excitement as she found Itachi standing there holding a small pouch out to her. She opened the pouch to find a set of ten wooden kunai and rounded disks, each lovingly made from rosewood with the kanji for Itachi carved into them. Sakura thumbed the well worn around the edges-a clear sign of repeated use-as she stared at Itachi inquisitively.

"Sit and watch."

So she did, taking in how Itachi positioned his feet and his shoulders, then how he moved his arms and flicked his wrist slowly for demonstration, then quickly, as the resulting _thud_ from his _real, sharp, metal_ kunai resounded in the clearing. He stood still, turning to face her silently, and stared expectantly. Ever intelligent, the young girl quickly realized that Itachi was waiting for her to try, so she picked up the gifted, beautiful rosewood kunai and tried to mimic Itachi's actions, infantile fingers clumsily gripping and throwing the wood.

"Too stiff. Loosen your wrist more."

And so they continued, until the sun began to set. And just as the day before, Itachi walked Sakura back to the playground (leaving her with both the pouch of wooden weapons and a very, very basic taijutsu scroll with plenty of diagrams) and politely greeted Mebuki before swiftly returning to the clan compound as Sakura waved.

[At the Uchiha Clan Compound]

"Tadaima," Itachi called as he entered the house and slipped off his shoes. His parents both called back with a soft "Okaeri," while his precious younger brother, Sasuke, tackled him in a hug around his waist.

"Aniki! Teach me jutsu!" Sasuke begged, staring up at his older brother with big, innocent black eyes.

"Sorry Sasuke, but Itachi has to have dinner and discuss his plans with Otō-san and me," Mikoto said warmly, resulting in Sasuke pouting up at his older brother.

"Sorry Sasuke, maybe next time," Itachi said softly as he poked his adorable otōuto in the forehead.

Dinner was a tense affair, as Mikoto and Fugaku were having a firm "discussion" as to Itachi's candidacy for ANBU. His mother was adamant that Itachi was still a child, albeit a genius one at that, and as such, should not be indoctrinated into Konoha's dark shinobi force just yet. Especially given his gentle and pacifist nature, Mikoto argued that it would "ruin" their child to send him straight into Konoha's aptly named "shadows." However, Fugaku reasoned that as not only the clan heir but as the prodigious _tensai_ that Itachi was, "his boy" would be "just fine" in ANBU and would help in resolving the constant tension between the Uchiha clan and the village council.

Finally, the couple turned to Itachi, exasperatedly asking him what he wanted going forward, and what he thought regarding the situation. Feeling the weight of both of his parents' eyes on him, Itachi considered them before settling his eyes on his younger brother and remembering what the Sandaime had told him about ANBU, calling them the "shinobi that protect the Hidden Leaf from the shadows," and how Shisui was already an active member in ANBU.

Itachi's eyes softened considerably while looking at his beloved younger brother and considering his potential as an ANBU operative. Growing up, Itachi witnessed the endings of a major shinobi war, he saw things boys his age shouldn't have-just the thought of the countless bodies strewn on the war-torn field made his blood run cold. His resolve solidified, and his warm onyx eyes turned to steel at the thought of his innocent younger brother facing the danger and trauma that came with war. Sakura's pink hair and wide apple eyes flashed in his mind, for what reason, he wasn't quite sure. He had just met her yesterday, after all. But the thought of Sakura facing the same dangers and pains lit a fire deep in his belly. He would protect her and Sasuke's innocence for as long as possible.

If being put in ANBU allowed him to better protect Sasuke and Sakura, then he would join. Even if it meant he had to take on more responsibility and the shadows consumed him, he would protect them.

With his mind made, Itachi calmly answered his parents, affirming that he would be joining ANBU as it would better relations between the clan and the village. At his mother's worried face, he gently reassured her through the reminder that Shisui would be there to guide him through the training and missions. Mikoto relented, knowing just how far Shisui would go to protect Itachi, and the topic was dropped.

The next day, Itachi found himself in the Sandaime's office, accepting the offer to join ANBU. Immediately, three ANBU operatives made their presence known, each wearing a different porcelain mask. They slowly took their masks off and revealed their identities-Itachi recognized Kakashi Hatake's lazy posture and _Icha-Icha Paradise_ , Genma Shiranui's slow smile, and Shisui's shit-eating grin immediately. Kakashi slowly closed his prized possession and returned it to his pocket, before putting a hand on Itachi's shoulder and ominously saying, "training begins now," before all four teleported to the Forest of Death.

When Sakura returned to the clearing the next day, she was disappointed to find that Itachi was not there, however, she quickly got over her disappointment and went on to dutifully practice her taijutsu kata and throwing her kunai until it finally stuck into the tree trunk with a dull _thunk_.

ANBU training was brutal. Itachi could barely process his own thoughts in his flurry to defend and maneuver himself away from his senpai's ruthless attacks. _Dodge, block, throw_ were the only things on his mind for the next few hours. The four shinobi cycled between offensive and defensive training, tactical practice, even mock missions. Every time Itachi was given even a semblance of a "break," he would envision meditating or training in his little clearing in the forest, filled with soft sunshine, pink hair, and wide, granny smith apple colored eyes.

Itachi wouldn't return to the clearing for another three months.


	2. Childhood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry that this chapter took so long! It has been mostly written for a while but I wasn’t quite happy with it so I kept fiddling with it (I’m still not completely satisfied with it, so I will probably go bad to rewrite/edit this chapter at some point). I hope you enjoy and if you did, please drop a comment or even a kudos! Your feedback (even through something as simple as leaving kudos) really feeds my muse!

**Title:** Komorebi

**Written by:** agentpanda2020

**Summary:** When they first met, it was in the warm glow of sunshine streaming through the trees of a small clearing near the Uchiha compound. One chance meeting binds their destinies together for life. A slow burn 

itasaku (Itachi/Sakura) story that starts from childhood in a non-massacre AU. 

**Prompt:** komorebi

**Chapter 2: Childhood**

The first week Itachi didn’t show up to the clearing, Sakura had been disappointed. 

The second week, she had been vexed, how could someone who had been so kind to her suddenly disappear as if he was nothing but a figment of her imagination? 

The third week, she had been disheartened--was she so terribly ugly that nobody, not even Itachi, her savior, would want to stay friends with her? 

The fourth week, Sakura had given up on Itachi, accepting that yes, she was indeed the ugly monster that her peers had made her out to be, and that Itachi was fully within his rights to be repulsed by her monstrous forehead and garishly pink hair. However, a small voice in her head whispered that that wasn’t true, that it couldn’t possibly be true, because Itachi was too kind, too caring, too nice for that (something that the perceptive child had picked up very quickly given the shinobi’s selfless actions). No, the voice inside her head whispered vehemently that surely, something was  _ wrong _ and  _ that  _ was why the raven-haired boy hadn’t made an appearance. While the voice was small, it was persistent, fervent even, leaving an acrid taste in the six-year-old’s mouth and a tightness in her chest that she didn’t quite understand. Her chest felt tight when she thought of the boy, but the tightness felt… different… from the sadness or disappointment that she had already become accustomed to, the tightness felt more like the anxiety she felt when she saw strangers approach her. Eventually, in the middle of her “training” in the clearing during the sixth week of Itachi’s absence in the sweltering heat of July, Sakura placed the niggling feeling as  _ worry _ , however, she quickly decided that she did  _ not _ enjoy this feeling, nor the tightness in her chest that came along with it, so she deigned to shove thoughts of Itachi and this “worry” feeling into a little box in the back of her mind. 

Or at least, she tried to, but in some cruel joke of fate, a boy who looked  _ very _ much like Itachi but much closer to her own age had shown up at the playground, and he was playing in the swing set that she had occupied almost daily since Itachi’s absence. Not wanting to be rude, Sakura politely gestured to the empty swing next to the Itachi look-a-like as she asked, “Do you mind if I play on this swing?” to which the boy grumpily responded, “Sure. Just stay on your side,” referring to the line the boy had drawn earlier with a stick to evenly divide the swing area in half before huffing and turning his head the other way, mumbling about how he missed his aniki and didn’t want to play with anyone but his cool, awesome aniki. Already accustomed to less than pleasant peers, Sakura paid him no mind as she gently laid her beloved book, scroll, and pouch on the picnic table near the swings before eagerly taking her place on the empty swing. 

Sakura sat quietly for a few seconds, looking at the boy sitting next to her and wondering whether or not to introduce herself, as her mother had always instilled good manners in her. Deciding to be polite, Sakura turned to her right, jade eyes meeting coal, as she politely introduced herself, “Hi, my name’s Sakura, it’s nice to meet you,” before bowing her head a little. The boy just shyly replied with a short, “I’m Sasuke,” before turning his head away again to ignore the girl, because girls were  _ icky _ and had  _ cooties,  _ and he could only imagine that those who had  _ pink _ hair had  _ extra _ cooties. Shrugging off Sasuke’s rude dismissal, after all, having been mercilessly bullied, being ignored was  _ hardly _ an issue, Sakura proceeded to face forwards and prepare herself to play on the swing. 

Slowly, she began to pump her legs, building momentum as she swung higher and higher, enjoying the wind in her ears and the feeling of her hair blowing wildly in the air. Sasuke had watched the whole thing, at first, he had been enraged that the tiny,  _ pink-haired girl with cooties _ had figured out how to swing by herself before  _ he,  _ an  _ Uchiha _ had (he hadn’t learned yet because he always had his aniki or his okaa-san to push him). As such, Sakura’s ability to swing by herself only served to further annoy him and the boy angrily turned away, flailing his legs uselessly as he tried to swing himself. 

As Sakura reached the peak height the swing was capable of going, she began giggling, her face one of pure joy and childhood innocence--petal-colored hair framing her face, cheeks and nose lightly flushed from her laughter and exercise, sparkling green eyes and mouth wide with joy. Having heard Sakura’s giggles, Sasuke promptly turned left to glare at the noisy girl (who  _ giggled _ , a sure sign of extra cooties), but instead found his mouth opening at the sight in awe, “Pretty” he whispered to himself, then immediately flushed red when he realized he had said that out loud. However, much to Sasuke’s relief, Sakura hadn’t heard him, too enthralled in her own enjoyment and the feeling of flying, not even noticing how the boy looked at her in wonder. 

After several minutes of looking at the girl, Sasuke smartly realized that he could learn how to swing by  _ watching _ her (he mentally patted himself on the back for his “genius realization”). As such, he began to mimic her motions, swinging his calves back and forth--hesitantly at first, but slowly gaining more and more confidence as the boy brought himself higher and higher. Having reached the same pace as Sakura, Sasuke smiled happily to himself, laughing in a way not unlike Sakura had as his hair tickled his still sensitive neck in the wind. 

Laughing happily with legs pumping and flushed faces, the two continued to play on the swings until their respective mothers came to bring them home. Sasuke’s mother, Mikoto-san, arrived first, politely introducing herself to Sakura before she and Sasuke made their leave. After waving the pair goodbye, the young girl estimated that she still had about 2 hours before sunset, when her mother would come to receive her, so she proceeded to the clearing that had become her personal training ground, hopeful that she would finally perfect her throwing accuracy. 

[On the way home to the Uchiha Clan Compound]

“Okaasan, I miss aniki, where is he? When will he come back?” Sasuke asked Mikoto.

“Sasuke, you know that he’s training for ANBU right now, and normally their training takes at least three months… Itachi will probably be back by September,” Mikoto gently replied, knowing this meant that Itachi would be missing Sasuke’s birthday.

“But, okaasan, my birthday is coming soon… is aniki going to miss it…?” Sasuke asked, eyes hopeful but already filling with sadness. 

“I’m sorry, Sasuke, I’m sure Itachi wishes he could join you for it, but he did leave you a surprise,” Mikoto replied sympathetically, feeling pity for her younger son as she knew how much the boy idolized his older brother. However, she felt slightly better, noting how Sasuke’s eyes had brightened at the mention of a surprise. With Sasuke’s curiosity satiated and his happiness restored through the knowledge that his aniki had not completely forgotten about him, the pair fell into silence as the two continued the walk back to the Uchiha clan compound. 

[July 23 Sasuke’s 6th Birthday]

“And last but not least, here is Itachi’s present to you!” Mikoto happily said as she handed Sasuke the carefully wrapped box with “From Itachi” lovingly written in Itachi’s signature neat and angular script. 

The boy all but ripped the brown paper apart to get to the contents of the box, where he saw a small canvas pouch with the kanji for his name, うちは サスケ, handstitched in navy blue string across the front, along with a small card. Sasuke first opened the canvas pouch, smiling widely at the contents of the pouch--a set of ten rosewood kunai and disks, each with the kanji for Sasuke carved into them. Sasuke carefully held one of the disks up, noting how the edges left an angry red line down his palm--the edges not quite sharp enough to cut with light pressure, but certainly sharp enough to cut when thrown properly. The now six-year-old carefully placed the faux shuriken back into the canvas pouch and instead picked up the small card. 

_ Sorry Sasuke, maybe next time I will be home for your birthday. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy my gift… I advise that you first learn how to throw them from Otousan. I will help you train when I return.  _

_ \- Aniki _

[July 23, Somewhere in The Forest of Death]

Itachi was coiled tightly, muscles tensed, hands gripped on the hilt of his katana,  _ ready to attack, block, dodge _ . The shinobi listened intently, hearing nothing--the oppressive weight of the silence in the forest settling on the boy’s shoulders, into the shadows, for all but thirty seconds when it  _ clicked _ . 

He was in the middle of a  _ forest _ , one that was  _ filled _ with vile creatures including but not limited to ōmukade (giant, man-eating centipedes) and snakes large enough to be considered serpents, the fact that the whole forest was cloaked in silence so heavily that not even he, with his sharp hearing, could discern even a leaf rustling was an obvious sign that he was trapped in a genjutsu. Cursing silently in his head for his daftness and inability to tune into his surroundings, Itachi quickly moved to dispel the genjutsu, muttering a soft “kai,” as his surroundings and the minute chakra surrounding the area melted away gently to reveal his cousin Shisui’s grinning face. 

“Took you a bit longer to get outta that genjutsu huh, Itachi-chan,” Shisui teased lightly, grinning even harder when Itachi leveled him with a blank stare that barely concealed the younger boy’s reluctant frustration because it  _ had _ taken him a longer time than it should have, those thirty seconds were all it would have taken for an enemy nin to kill him. 

“Ah, I will have to work more on that,” Itachi replied blandly as he faded back into his plain, professional, ANBU persona (frustration would not do while “on the job,” especially not the self-directed kind). 

“It’s nice to know my cute little cousin still has things to learn from me, even when he’s a tensai,” Shisui teased further before his grin softened into a smile, “Genma and Kakashi should be back in a bit with fish, let’s set up camp for tonight.” At that, Itachi gave a short nod before disappearing into the trees and securing the perimeter.

Dinner was a quick affair, with Itachi finishing quickly before taking up the first watch of the night as he always did, taking first watch was always the most junior member’s role, if there were complications, the likelihood that the more experienced members of the squad were still awake or barely asleep was high, increasing the whole squad’s chance of survival (although this was just a training exercise and there weren’t any threats that Itachi couldn’t handle in the Forest of Death, it was still a habit that he should become accustomed to). 

As Itachi sat there, his thoughts drifted to his beloved younger brother… today was Sasuke’s birthday after all. The shinobi wondered if Sasuke had a good day, if Sasuke was lonely now that he wasn’t home, if Sasuke liked the gift that he had left him (the handcrafted wooden weapons had cost the boy quite a pretty penny, but the thought of Sasuke’s smiling cherub face made the gift well worth the price, at least to Itachi). Looking up at the moon’s placement in the sky, Itachi reasoned that his shift would be over within an hour and knowing that he would need to rest well for another grueling day of training, Itachi began to meditate, hopeful that this nightly exercise would make it easier for him to slip into a restful sleep later that night. 

As he meditated, he returned to his warm, sunlight-filled clearing in the forest, to leaning his back against his favorite tree while reading, while napping, while observing the tiny girl with emerald eyes and cotton candy hair throw wooden kunai. 

[July 30th, A Week Later at the Playground]

“Ew! Get away from us, monster!”

“You should just go back to demon land, you fox demon! Nobody wants to play with you!”

“Look at his stupid whiskers, it’s proof he’s just a fox monster!” 

The verbal abuse continued, but the sunshine stained boy had learned to tune it out, instead focusing on building the most impressive sandcastle a five-year-old could possibly construct. While making the “final touches” to what appeared to be a glorified lump of sand, Naruto noticed that the playground that had previously been filled with jibes and verbal abuse had now gone eerily silent. Looking up from his masterpiece, the boy’s mouth opened in bewilderment. 

A tiny,  _ pink-haired _ girl was glaring harshly at his bullies while giving them a scolding that rivaled that of Iruka sensei after Naruto painted over the Hokage monument in red. What was even more perplexing was the fact that his bullies were now reduced to cowering, blubbering messes, scrambling to apologize and appease the rosette. 

“Apologize to him. Now.” demanded the pink-haired girl with fire in her eyes, and to Naruto’s amazement, the bullies actually turned to him and began begging for forgiveness, even going so far as to  _ bow _ to the young boy. Not really knowing how else to respond, the boy just sheepishly uttered a small, “it’s fine.” However, before the boy could even finish his (very short) sentence, the bullies had bowed once again and all but stumbled over each other in their rush to  _ get away from the pink-haired girl whose Uchiha friend could very well murder them ( _ if the stories were to be believed). 

Stupefied by the events that had just taken place, the tan boy turned to face the emerald-eyed girl warily, unsure of the girl’s intentions in protecting him and just what made the girl so intimidating to their much older and larger peers. As cerulean eyes hesitantly met jade, cerulean immediately brightened to a brilliant cyan at the warmth in the young girl’s smile. As the previous aggression and confidence melted away conspicuously quickly, the rosette shyly stuck her hand out before murmuring a soft, “Hi, my name’s Sakura. Haruno Sakura,” to which the young boy excitedly responded with an exuberant, “Hiya! My name’s Uzumaki Naruto, and I’m going to be Hokage one day so bastards like that don’t bully me anymore! Thanks for scaring them away, nobody but Iruka sensei every does.” The girl’s smile faltered slightly at the “bad word” that Naruto had just said (a word he picked up from being abused by the adults of the village), and she admonished him lightly for cursing before offering to play together. Having never played with other children his age, nonetheless  _ openly invited _ , Naruto joyfully accepted and the two began playing on the swingset together. 

While on the outside, Sakura appeared relaxed and happily playing, on the inside she had been freaking out. Ever since Itachi’s disappearance, she had noticed something--no,  _ someone _ \--constantly inside her own mind, an almost sinister presence that sometimes manifested itself in aggressive and crude actions (such as the scolding that she had  _ just _ given her former bullies and oh-my-god what if they told her mother of her less than ladylike behavior??) and other times just made snide comments inside her head. The presence and herself had the exact same countenance, with their respective coloring being the distinguishing factor--whereas Sakura was colorful (with pink hair and green eyes and pale skin), her mental counterpart was the complete opposite, her “inner” self was completely made of harsh black and white. 

Not wanting to scare her newly made friend away, Sakura promptly shoved her “inner” self to the back of her mind (literally) and decided that she would deal with her inner later, when nobody else was around. Instead, the girl preoccupied herself with swinging herself higher and higher while conversing with the sunshine soaked boy. 

Just two children happily playing together on the swings, laughing and enjoying each other’s company. 

That was the scene that young Sasuke Uchiha observed when he finally arrived at the playground secretly hopeful that a certain pink-haired girl would be present at once again, not that he would admit it out loud, he would never be caught dead saying the pinkette was anything but  _ annoying _ and  _ gross _ (because girls had cooties, no matter how pretty they were). While the young boy was secretly delighted that the pink-haired girl was at the playground, he was  _ not at all happy _ when he saw her playing with some blonde-haired brat. It felt akin to when other children would grab and play with his toys without his permission, and it made him  _ angry _ . In his small tantrum, Sasuke stomped up to the other boy’s swing and  _ demanded _ that the boy give it up. 

Hearing Sasuke’s angry voice, both Sakura and Naruto slowly stopped swinging, letting their stubby legs hang limply as they lost momentum. Sakura happily greeted Sasuke-kun, prompting a harsh “Hn” from the boy who was still a little miffed that Sakura had found another playmate so quickly. Instead, the boy turned to face the blonde  _ brat _ who had the nerve to play with Sakura, but was instead met with an alarmingly bright and warm grin. 

Jumping off of her swing, Sakura walked between the two boys and smiled happily as she introduced the two to each other, excitedly exclaiming that now the three could play together! While Sasuke looked upset with the arrangement, one look at the girl’s truly joyful expression was enough to disarm him, as he sighed in resignation and agreed to play with “the dobe,” earning him a scolding from Sakura and a glare and a “not like I wanted to play with you anyways,  _ teme _ , but I’ll do anything for Sakura-chan,” from Naruto (who had already begun to idolize the girl who had not only saved him from his bullies, but was  _ pretty _ too). As such, the two boys followed the girl to the sandbox, content with building their own sandcastles and throwing subtle jabs at one another while the pink-haired girl sat between them reading the taijutsu scrolls Itachi had gifted her.

“Ne, Sakura-chan, what’re you reading?” The whiskered boy asked, his nose scrunching up in confusion as he tried to decipher the text on the scroll (unsuccessfully, he hadn’t learned to read yet). “It’s a taijutsu scroll that Itachi-nii gave me last month so I can learn how to protect myself from meanies,” Sakura replied in a matter-of-fact manner. However, unbeknownst to the young girl, her black-haired companion’s brain had short-circuited after hearing his beloved aniki’s name. However, he reasoned that maybe there was another Itachi that had access to taijutsu scrolls… that was of course, until the boy looked over at the scroll and found his aniki’s distinctively neat script in small font littering the scroll with notes. 

Sasuke saw red. Jealousy and feelings of inferiority coursed through the child’s veins as he tore the scroll from Sakura’s small hands. His aniki hadn’t shown  _ him _ any taijutsu scrolls or even  _ trained with him  _ yet, so why was  _ his _ aniki gifting beloved taijutsu scrolls to some  _ no-name civilian _ with  _ pink hair _ instead of him, his own  _ otouto _ ? There was only one explanation to Sasuke, this tiny girl had to have  _ stolen _ the scroll from his aniki. 

“S-Sasuke-kun?” Sakura stammered nervously, having sensed the boy’s growing fury. Of course, her nervousness was justified, after all, just weeks prior she had been subject to relentless bullying, and fury was always a telltale sign of imminent abuse. 

“ _ What are you doing with my aniki’s scrolls?? Did you  _ **_steal_ ** _ from my aniki?”  _ Sasuke all but roared at the rosette. Naruto looked back and forth between the two anxiously, not quite understanding what was going on or why Sasuke-teme was so angry with Sakura-chan when Sakura-chan was just  _ reading _ . However, the sunshine stained boy  _ did _ know that he did  _ not _ appreciate Sasuke-teme yelling at his first friend, so he wacked the Uchiha upside the head, somewhat pacifying the pale boy. “Don’t talk to Sakura-chan like that, she was just reading,” Naruto declared protectively, snatching the scroll away from Sasuke and putting it back into Sakura’s small hands. 

While recently (as a result of the new presence in her head), the young girl would have been infuriated and shrieked right back at Sasuke, the information that the boy had just revealed was too compelling, as the boy would surely know where the older boy had disappeared to. As such, instead of scolding Sasuke for his rude behavior, Sakura excitedly asked, “Itachi-nii is your brother?” to which Sasuke responded with a gruff hn and an affirmative nod, the boy was still stinging with jealousy and anger, but began to feel guilt building in his stomach for his admittedly rash behavior and contemplated apologizing, even though he  _ hated _ apologizing. However, he was quickly torn from his thoughts by Sakura’s excited yelp and the subsequent game of twenty questions that followed. 

“Does that mean you’re a ninja too?” 

“Yeah. In September, when the academy starts.” the boy all but boasted, puffing his chest out.

“Oi, teme, I’ll be there too! I can’t be Hokage until I’m a super cool ninja!” the blonde interjected excitedly.

“Oh! I’ll be there too!! Is Itachi-nii okay? Where has he been for the past month? Is he on a mission? When will he be back?” 

“Aniki is invincible. He’s definitely okay, he’s super-duper strong and cool, he’s just training for ANBU right now so he won’t be back until like September,” the raven-haired boy gushed excitedly about his older brother. 

“Aww darn, I was hoping to show him how much better I’ve gotten at throwing and taijutsu but I guess I won’t be able to until I’m already at the academy,” the young girl lamented quietly, brow furrowed in disappointment. 

“You have shuriken and kunai to throw??” Naruto asked excitedly, only having seen Iruka-sensei’s shuriken once or twice. 

“They’re not real metal ones, they’re just wooden practice ones that Itachi-nii gave to me,” Sakura replied bashfully, before grabbing her pouch from its place slightly outside the sandbox and revealing its contents. 

At the familiar sight of the wooden shuriken and kunai, Sasuke felt another wave of jealousy and anger wash over him, his aniki had given him the same present for his birthday as he did for this  _ girl?  _ However, upon closer inspection, the boy was quickly mollified by the presence of Itachi’s name carved in kanji and the well worn, blunt edges of the fake weapons--these had just been hand-me-downs, and nothing more than that. Of course, it could never compare to the new, beautiful sets that Itachi had gifted to him, but the sentimentality of the gift to Sakura still bothered Sasuke. 

Of course, because of his young age, he couldn’t quite place  _ why _ it bothered him so, but it essentially boiled down to the gift feeling too  _ personal _ \--that Itachi would willingly give what was once his, the beloved weapons that he had trained with for hours, that had become a part of who Itachi was, to some random girl that Sasuke wasn’t even aware of. Just who  _ was _ Sakura to Itachi and why was her existence a complete secret to the rest of the clan? His aniki was not the type to just give his own things away to people with no significance. Given this, the young boy decided to ask his brother after his return in September, shoving the thought to the back of his mind and instead focused on playing with Sakura and Naruto. 

As their original fascination with the sandbox and taijutsu scroll lessened, the trio looked upon Sasuke and Sakura’s canvas weapon pouches in curiosity and excitement. After a shared look of agreement, they proceeded to dump the weapons out onto the grass and practiced their throwing by aiming at the large Japanese pine trees that sat at the border of the park. Unsurprisingly, Sasuke proved to be the most adept at the exercise--with his weapons hitting the middle of the tree’s trunk consistently, however not quite sinking into its thick bark. However, to both of the boy’s surprise, in a show of precisely controlled power and technique, Sakura’s kunai, while not always hitting the dead center of the tree, sunk in all the way to the hilt. 

The trio continued to train until they grew tired, with Sakura being the first to completely tire out while retrieving her kunai from the tree when, instead of turning to return to where Sasuke and Naruto stood by the sandbox, she promptly sat down and leaned against the tree. The two boys shared a look before racing over to the pink-haired girl and sitting down next to her on either side of the tree, grateful for the respite from their training. Slowly, their collective drowsiness took over them, a symptom of their infantile youth, and the three dozed off, leaning against one another in the shade of the Japanese pine. 

That was how their respective guardians found them, all cozied up and snoozing together. Mikoto and Mebuki gushed together over just how adorable the trio looked before lamenting the fact that neither had brought a camera and they would not be able to add the adorable scene to their scrapbooks while Iruka smiled warmly, genuinely happy that his godson had found friends despite his jinchuriki status and the relentless bullying he was subject to. 

The three children would continue to play together for the rest of that summer, establishing the roots for one of Konoha’s most infamous friendships. 

[September 1, The Clearing]

When Itachi finally returned from his grueling ANBU training (which had actually been some form of an “exam,” that according to Shisui he had passed “flawlessly, just like the tensai he was,”), he did not know what compelled him to return to the clearing first and not his own home, but he found himself walking at a brisk pace, his sub-conscience leading him to the small clearing near the clan compound. 

Upon walking into the clearing and seeing a familiar pink head, Itachi felt all of the tension (that he had not realized was there in the first place) melt off of his body almost instantaneously, leaving the boy feeling loose, relaxed, but also vulnerable and exposed--what if the girl did not wish for his return? What if she didn’t want to see him? The unfamiliar feeling of panic and anxiety began to rise in his chest, as the tension and stress that had just melted off began to slowly wrap its tendrils around him. 

That was of course until they made eye contact. 

When Sakura first saw Itachi, she froze. Then, as her still young brain processed that yes, that really  _ was _ Itachi and no, he had not turned around and walked away from her like she had feared he would (after all, why  _ would _ Itachi, the genius and perfect older brother want to talk to someone as ugly and weak as herself?), the young girl broke out into an infectious smile, her eyes shining with something warm and lovely that made Itachi’s tension melt away once more. Silently, the raven-haired boy opened his arms slightly as he smiled softly at the girl, who immediately sprinted over to him and jumped into the boy’s waiting arms. 

“You’re home, Itachi-nii!” 

“Ah.” _ Yes, I’m home.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inner Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke have joined the battle! I know there wasn't much Itasaku action in this chapter, but it is still early and there will be more later, I promise! Again, please feel free to drop a comment or leave a kudos if you've enjoyed this chapter (hopefully I'll get the next chapter out in a more timely manner).

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this chapter!


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